


Fuzzy Dice

by Princessponies



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - D&D, Alternate Universe - Furries, Alternate Universe - School, Matt is the DM, Multi, No galactic empire just school club feuds, Probably just as bad as you'd expect but maybe not quite, Some modification to ages, Sven is Shiro's D&D character, ships will be added as applicable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-02-22 22:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13176180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princessponies/pseuds/Princessponies
Summary: Shiro makes a chance encounter that changes everything- and he is also very tired. The gang is reeled into playing D&D. Matt antagonizes his friends. An age-old feud unfolds.





	1. Don’t Bite The Hand That Frees You

_[Shiro]_

 

   Shiro had reached his lowest point.

   As he stared through the glass at the dark, soulless eyes across from him, he contemplated what he had done to deserve this. What horrible karma was he receiving now? Shiro briefly wondered if it would have been better to let himself stay trapped. At least then he might retain some of his dignity. If he was lucky, Keith perhaps would have passed by and found him. If not, then at least once his skeleton was found one of the biology classes might be able to put it to good use. But here? In this situation? There was no redemption.

   His anonymous savior was having difficulty maneuvering the keys through their pawed gloves. Eventually, they removed one of their gloves and began working at the locks. Shiro was fairly certain he felt a part of him die inside. No, he would never be able to come back from this. There was no hope. Forehead pressed against the window in misery and self-loathing, looking deep into the abyssal voids of the white and purple mask, Shiro felt humiliation burn in his chest.

   After an eternity, the lock clicked, and Shiro’s knight-in-fluffy-armor stepped out of the way of the door. Shiro pitifully swung it open and shuffled out of the empty classroom.

   “...Thank you,” Shiro tried to sound more grateful than scarred-for-life, though he doubted he successfully hid his sorrow.

   “No problem,” his liberator’s voice was muffled through their suit. Gingerly, they reached up and removed their mask, shoving it under their arm alongside their glove. Their faded lavender-dyed mohawk stuck up at odd angles, and they looked as though they had just run a marathon. “The name’s Ulaz,” they said, extending their free hand.

   Had he not been tortured enough? The last thing Shiro wanted was to continue the conversation. Alas, his gentlemanly nature beat him to the punch.

   “Shiro,” He greeted in return, meeting their hand half-way.

   Curse his politeness.

   “So, uh,” Shiro tried not to wince as his mouth kept moving when his brain screamed at him to retreat. “Nice…” He glanced over Ulaz’s outfit. “...Suit.”

   “Thank you!” Ulaz beamed, and hefted the head of their costume to better show the details of it. “It just came in the mail the other day. It took me forever to commission it- you wouldn’t believe how hard it is to find a quality jackal fursuit-maker around here.”

 

* * *

 

   “A _furry_ ?!” Matt covered his mouth in a vain attempt to keep from spitting out his milk. Shiro wiped away a few stray droplets with a napkin, and _thunk_ ed his head against the table. Lunch, the day following _The Incident_.

   “He was a jackal. Had the whole get-up and everything. White and purple fur. Even little like,” Shiro lifted his head and vainly tried to charade the other fine details of Ulaz’s outfit. “A little bandana, and bracelets. All purple,” He dropped his head again. “A whole color scheme.”

   Matt kept a fist over his mouth, snickering profusely, struggling to form a coherent sentence.

   “You had to get rescued. From a locked classroom. By a _furry_ ,” he wheezed.

   Shiro frowned at him from the table. Indeed. His suffering seemed to have no end.

   “Furries aside, how was _your_ weekend?”

   Matt gave a noncommittal shrug as he tried to suppress his fits of giggles. “Same as usual. The gang and I had a campaign again, it went about as well as it usually does,” He leaned forward over the table. “You should join in sometime. I’m sure we could squeeze you into a session. Heck, I’ll even help you make a character,” He grinned devilishly. “You could play a cat-folk.”

   “...What’s a cat-folk?”

_“A furry-”_

   Shiro pushed Matt’s head away, Matt still sniggering like a madman.

   “Tell you what, If you don’t make the furry incident into a _Thing_ , I’ll join your game next weekend.”

   “Deal!” He extended an earnest hand. Despite shaking on it, Shiro still could not help but feel a building sense of dread.

 

* * *

 

   “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Jackal.” Matt’s younger sister peered up from the Holt’s doorway.

   “I’m going to kill your brother.”

   “Don’t let him punch me!” Matt yelped from the next room. “That prosthetic hurts!”

   Shiro stepped into the house, hooking his vest up next to the door. Matt’s sister skipped around a small pile of shoes and led him into the parlor, where a mass of teens lounged around on the various chairs scattered around. Matt was huddled underneath a mass of pillows. Shiro promptly took a seat on him in vengeance. Matt squeaked under his weight.

   “Hiya,” Shiro waved to the rest of the group. He recognized most of them as friends of Matt’s sister- A lanky tan boy stretched out across a recliner, his legs stuck up in the air over the armrest. Matt’s sister had taken up a seat on the couch beside a boy nearly twice her size, who was wearing a yellow headband that made his bangs stick up. Shiro vaguely recognized the white-haired girl sitting opposite him; Matt’s latest crush, Allura. From down the hall, Shiro could hear the bustling off parental guardians chatting.

   “We’re still waiting on one,” Matt gasped out from underneath him. “I managed to rope Keith into coming once he knew you’d be here.”

   As if on cue, the doorbell rang.

   “Speak of the devil. Pidge? Sister dear? If you could please- I have a behemoth on me,” Matt gave a few innocent blinks, as if to prove that he didn’t deserve such cruel treatment. His sister simply stuck out her tongue and stood again to let in their final player.

   “While we wait on them,” Matt meekly flailed a hand out from underneath Shiro, groping for the table where the character sheets were strewn about. “There should be one for you in here somewhere.”

   Shiro dug through the pile until he found a paper with his name on it. A lawful good paladin, creatively named…

   “Sven?” Shiro turned to look underneath him. Matt gave his best shrug with limited mobility.

   “I was thinking _that_ or Slav-”

   “Nope. You’re right. Sven is better.”

 

   Pidge returned to the room, weaving between seats to return to her spot. Behind her trailed the newcomer.

   As soon as Keith set foot in the room, the boy in the rocking chair shot out of his seat.

_“YOU!”_

   “Me?” Keith pointed at himself in confusion, dropping his coat off on the seat beside Shiro.

   “YES, YOU!” The other boy strode forward, wiggling his finger accusingly. “You- _you!_ You genius, _straight-A mulleted fuck!”_

   “Thank you?”

   He threw his hands up, turning to Matt- or, moreso to under Shiro. “I refuse to play a campaign with... _this_ ,” He gestured to Keith, pouting.

   “Oh, you’ll live, Lance,” Pidge waved a hand as she returned to her seat. She lifted some papers off the table and began paging through them. “We’ve had to put up with _you_ for the past three campaigns.”

   Lance huffed and fell back into his chair. Keith sat himself awkwardly beside Shiro.

   “So, uh, where’s Matt?” Keith inquired, giving a glance around at the other players.

   “Here,” Matt squirmed to free himself slightly from the shackles of Shiro’s ass.

   “Should I ask?”

   “I was making fun of Shiro because get got himself locked inmphff mph mph-” Shiro clamped a hand over Matt’s mouth.

   “It’s nothing,” Shiro smiled. Keith seemed to decide not to press further.

   “So,” Matt pried Shiro’s hand off his face. “Let’s begin.”


	2. Horsing Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> D&D shenanigans. Shiro & Adam chat about domestic stuff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long since the last update! I ended up shuffling a lot of stuff because of new seasons & plot/character updates. In good news though, I have chapter 3 all set to post soon and chapter 4 in the works. 
> 
> Also, some notes about ships & related stuff: There's going to be a lot of relationship juggling throughout this fic. Things are far from set-in-stone this early on, and chances are most of the main cast will probably jump through two or three relationships over the course of the fic. Whether you view this as a plus because you get more ships for your dollar, or a negative because that ship you really love only lasts for a few chapters or gets a slight nod of acknowledgement, that's up to you. But that's likely how it's gonna go. 
> 
> Also I finally decided how I'm going to format breaks and et cetera so things should be consistent from here-on-out, but the first chapter might look a bit wonky in comparison.
> 
> Anyways, have fun with the gang annoying the shit out of Matt.

_[_ ~~ _Shiro_~~ _Sven]_

 

    Before the six of them stood the large wall, stretching out as far as the group could see- even for those with impeccable sight. It was solid and high- a fortress of stone with no apparent entrances. Unusually, no guards patrolled the area, and seemingly had not in many moons. All was quiet- even the birds did not sing. Despite this, all seemed calm and safe.

    “That’s not suspicious at all…” Muttered Bee’zr, the only vocal bird in the area. The Aarakocra tapped their talons impatiently, keeping a keen eye on their surroundings. To their right, Thandeer Darkstorm, the ever-impulsive berserker, waltzed forwards to the wall. He felt across the stones, tail lashing.

    “There’s got to be a way through _somewhere_ ,” Darkstorm dragged his claw down against an outjutting pebble. Nothing happened.

    “Maybe you just have to _knock-_ ” from the back of the group piped up Pike. The thief scurried forward to beside Darkstorm and rapped his knuckles against the rocks. The rest of the party audibly hissed in annoyance. Bee’zr skittered back a few feet.

    “You _idiot-!_ ”

    The stone in the wall where Pike had knocked made a solid _clunk_ , and slowly slid back through the wall. As it did so, other rocks began to shift and slide as well, until a small gap sat in the wall about eye-level with the majority of the party. Unfortunately, the gap was slightly too high up for Bee’zr to look through. A pair of eyes appeared on the opposite side of the hole, peering through.

    “Who goes there?!” a voice hissed through the space.

    Sven- the party’s paladin, took a few steps forward so that he was standing before the gap in the wall.

    “Er, hello!” He greeted the individual on the other side. “We’re just a few travelers, passing through. There’s uh, six of us? Seven if you count the floaty thing-”

    “Her name is _Trigel_ ,” Bee’zr grunted.

    “How many of those things have you gone through? What was the last one’s name again?” Pike waved his hand around in thought. “Floater, or whatever?”

    “ _Rover_!” Bee’zr put a solemn hand over their heart. “May he float in peace,” They sniffed.

    “... _-Anyways_ ,” Sven turned his attention from his party back to the figure on the other side of the wall. “We’re just passing through. We’re on our way to Ceyrule-”

    “This is Ceyrule!” The individual on the other side of the wall cried. Through the gap, a spear quickly was driven, planting itself firmly in Sven.

    “ _OW! Hey!_ Why the hell did he stab me?!” Sven cried.

_He doesn’t like you, I guess._

    “THAT’S NOT AN EXCUSE TO _STAB ME_!”

    _It’s not_ fatal _! You barely took any damage!_

    Darkstorm scurried to Sven’s side, digging through the pouches at his side. “Hold on, I’ve got you-”

    “Hey, hey, hey! A-a-ah!” Blok chided, stepping between the two of them. “Leave the healing to the _healers_ , please.”

    Moving beside him, Valyeun drew an arrow from her quiver, and promptly drove it into Sven’s side, directly beside the spear.

    “ _WHAT THE HELL?!_ ” Sven clutched his side, glaring at the archer. Darkstorm skittered past the magic-users and began worrying over Sven’s wound. Valyeun simply huffed.

    “I’m _healing_ you!” She gestured towards the spear still driven in Sven’s side. Holding another one of her arrows. Sven shied away from her weapon, as Darkstorm stepped in front of Sven’s wound with a hiss.

    “YOU JUST STABBED ME _AGAIN_ ! _I TOOK A POINT OF DAMAGE FROM THAT!_ ” He complained.

    “-And now your HP will regenerate over the next few minutes,” Valyeun twirled her arrow, prompting another hiss from Darkstorm. “I’m _helping_ you.”

    “Don’t know if you noticed- I STILL HAVE A SPEAR IN ME!”

    “Oh, you’ll be fine. We can just leave that there for now.”

    “It could make a nice coat rack-” Bee’zr slid over to the others, moving to poke at the spear’s shaft. Darkstorm nipped the air just in front of their talons with a growl, and Bee’zr withdrew their hand. Pike scooted around his bickering teammates and over to the gap in the wall.

    “...May we come in? Pretty please?” He smiled. The figure on the other side of the wall seemed to consider him for a moment.

    “...But of course!”

    Quickly, more stones in the wall began to shift, creating an entrance into the town. Beyond the wall sat a cozy village, lush with foliage and small streams meandering through the area. The offending-stabber stood just inside, beaming brightly at Pike. The individual stood donned in a mix of navy-dyed leather and silver armor, and a red scarf draped around their neck. Pike waltzed inside, which the guard seemed to find all the more reason to smile. He looked almost ready to drop and kiss the ground Pike walked upon.

    Sven clutched his side, frowning sternly, and threw an arm in the the guard’s direction.

    “STABBED. ME.”

    Pike waved a hand back to Sven. “Past is the past! He seems nice enough!”

    “STABBED.”

    “I’m with Sh- er. Sven,” Darkstorm glared at the guard from Sven’s side.

    “You _always_ side with Shiro,” Bee’zr muttered, scurrying inside the town. Their familiar bobbed along in the air behind them.

    “... _True_ , but still!”

   

    A cobblestone path led the party through the town, activity bustling around the group as the guard guided them down it.

    Eventually, the guard glanced back at the adventurers. “So, what brings you here? We don’t get many visitors these days.”

    “We’re looking for-” Darkstom began, cut off by Pike’s hand clamping over his mouth.

    “Ah-ah-ah! Let me do the talking,” Pike waved his other hand in front of Darkstorm’s nose, who seemed particularly through with being chided. Darkstorm huffed and snapped at the hand over his face. Pike stepped away with a frown.

    “We’re looking for the Warden of the Sea,” Pike explained to the guard.

    “Ah! The Warden of the Sea!” The guard looked excited, possibly simply because Pike had acknowledged his existence. “Right this way, travelers!”

    The path the guard led the group upon slowly grew rockier, the stones making up the path gradually increasing in size along the way. Eventually, the stones led to a large cave opening, which the guard eagerly led them through and down winding tunnels. The caverns grew darker and darker, difficult to navigate for those who did not have dark sight-

    “So, only Blok and Sven.”

    _Er- wait. Really? You all-? Oh. Huh. You all do. Sucks to be you two, I guess._

    “Oh, come on!”

_Anyways._

    Through the dark caverns the party navigated, following the guard closely. _Apparently_ , this wasn’t very difficult for the majority of them, besides Sven and Blok, who were precariously being guided by the other adventurers. At last, the caverns began to grow lighter once more, illuminated by a mysterious blue glow. The guard paused beside the apparent source of this glow- a final tunnel entrance. He gestured inside.

    “You all go ahead. I must return to my station. You will find the exit through this cavern after you meet the Warden of the Sea.” The guard seemed truthful in his words- and still as cheery as ever to be in Pike’s presence. Trusting the guard’s honesty, the party filed inside the final cavern.

    The source of the light quickly became apparent- glowing runestones lined nearly every available section of stone, enough to entirely light the expanse. Runic circles expanded outwards from the center of the floor- within them, sat the Warden of the Sea. A giant maltese tiger with glowing yellow eyes- staring down upon the party, watching them intently.

    _Roll for initiative-_

    “I PET THE TIGER!”

    _Excuse me?_

    “I pet the tiger!” Pike repeated, more eagerly.

    “If it vores him I swear I’m not helping him re-roll a new character,” Bee’zr huffed.

    Darkstorm frowned at Bee’zr, looking genuinely concerned. “Please, never say that word ever again.”

    _Okay, fine. You can roll to see if you can pet the tiger, but you have to beat out it’s will save, and it has a bonus-_

    “THIRTY SEVEN!” Pike rushed forward towards the Warden.

_HOW THE FUCK?!_

    “I rolled a twenty~” Pike sang. “Plus, a seventeen bonus to animal handling. _HA!_ ”

    “I forgot he had that,” Blok scratched his chin, watching Pike dive into danger. “So, uh, did he do it?”

_He… the tiger rolled a…_

    Valyeun knitted her eyebrows. “ _A...?_ ”

    _...A five._

    “ _HOLY SHIT!_ ” Pike was already petting the tiger. The Warden seemed to regard Pike almost as joyously as the guard had, _I guess_ . _It’s probably purring with how happy it is to meet Pike._

    “Tigers can’t purr,” Darkstorm frowned.

_Well, this one is, because it’s just that damn happy. It’s a magic tiger, okay? That was supposed to be your fucking boss battle!_

    “I’m naming her River and she’s my pet now!”

    _She’s giant! Like, imagine a school bus. She’s bigger than that._

    “THEN WE CAN RIDE HER INTO BATTLE!”

   

    Matt pinched the bridge of his nose, sticking an accusatory finger in Lance’s direction. “Fuck you. _Fuck you,_ ” He sighed. “Okay, fine. You have a giant ass tiger now. Congrats. Your party exits the cave and uh. Leave. The town.” Matt flitted through his papers helplessly. Lance sat across from him, humming to himself and dancing in his seat. Matt groaned and reviewed the papers he had prepared. “ _Fuuuck_ , I have to rewrite this now. Give me ten minutes. Bathroom break or something.”

    “Haha!” Lance cheered, jumping from his chair.

    Allura leaned onto the table, prodding her own papers absentmindedly. “Aren’t there four other wardens?”

    “If you guys even _THINK_ about taming the rest of the wardens, I WILL make this game hell,” Matt settled his face in his hands, clearly regretting every decision he had made up until that point.

    Lance smirked mischievously. “That sounds like a _challenge_.”

 

\---V---

    “I’m home!” Shiro pushed his way through the doorway, dropping his vest over a chair and tossing his keys into a dish next to the entrance.

    “Yay,” Adam’s voice called from the next room over. Shiro picked his way through the corridors of their apartment to where his boyfriend was sitting. Adam leaned his head over the back of the couch to make a kissy-face in Shiro’s direction. Shiro met Adam’s lips in greeting.

    “How was the nerd party?” Adam smiled.

    “You’re one to talk.”

    Adam pouted and stuck out his tongue, and Shiro gently bopped his boyfriend on the head, leaning onto the back of the sofa. Adam rearranged himself accordingly as Shiro continued.

    “It was fine. We found a tiger or something. Our characters fought some stuff, Matt’s sister saved our butts, _et cetera, et cetera_. I spent most of it sitting on Matt,”

    “ _God_ , I wish that were me,” Adam threw his head back again with a smirk. “So, did ya win?”

    “ _Thirsty_ ,” Shiro chided. “-And I don’t know if that’s possible.”

    “Sure it is! If you seduce enough bosses that the DM quits, then you win D&D. Those are the rules.”

    “I’m pretty sure Matt’s banned us from befriending bosses after today.”

    “Then play a necromancer bard,” Adam removed his glasses to chew at the earpiece thoughtfully. “Befriend if you can, and if that doesn’t work- fight and reanimate. Amass ‘n army. Pisses ‘em off ‘cause they gotta roll for all your _minions_.”

    Shiro plucked Adam’s glasses out of his hands, prompting a whine of complaint and ensuing pitiful grabbing motions. Shiro slipped the plastic frames back onto Adam’s face and snuck a second kiss on his cheek. Adam pouted, settling his chin over the back of his seat, but continued.

    “What’d you end up playing, anyways?”  
    “Paladin.”

    “ _Goody two-shoes_ ,” Adam squished his face up in mock-distaste.

    “Matt pre-made it for me,” Shiro tucked his face close to Adam’s, pouting dramatically. Adam shifted closer, until their noses were brushing.

    “Makes sense. You’d probably play one anyways if you had made it yourself, though.”

    “You don’t know that!” Pushing his pout further left Shiro’s bottom lip against the nosepiece of Adam’s glasses. Adam brushed a hand into the long section of Shiro’s hair. The TV buzzed on some sports channel that neither Adam nor Shiro particularly cared for.

    “Hey,” Adam’s tone shifted to something softer, his gaze flickering, “You arranged that doctor’s appointment, right?”

    “Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Shiro mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut and nuzzling his boyfriend’s forehead. “Next week, office outside ‘a town, th’ doctor with the weird long name. I can drive myself.”

    “You sure? Don’t you got a blood test?”

    “It’s not a lot, I’m good - Plus, you’ve got classes Tuesday,”

    Blinking his eyes open, Shiro caught the glimpse of Adam’s face falling to misery at the notion of education. He groaned as he sunk down into the soft seats of the couch. Shiro chuckled lightly.

    “ _Uuuuuugh_ ,” Adam whined. “We’ve got a lab. You sure I can’t come with you?”

    Shiro smiled and ruffled his boyfriend’s hair. “Sorry, hun, but you’ve gotta go get your education. But- tell you what. We could go out to dinner tomorrow to make it up to you?”

    Adam glanced back up at Shiro with a frown.

    “I’ve got work- ‘took the afternoon shift to make up for missing last week. Monday night you have work, right?”

    “Yeah, four to eight.”

    “Wednesday?”

    Shiro’s smile fell. “Physical therapy- normal therapy Friday. Classes Thursday. I could skip next D&D?”

    “Work, again.” Adam sunk lower into his seat and pinched the bridge of his nose. Shiro circled the sofa to sit beside him.

    “We never get to see each other besides at night- Between your appointments and then school and work for both of us. Fuck, even night shift gets in the way half the time,” Adam muttered at the ceiling.

    “You _know_ I’m trying-”

    “I know, I _know_ ,” Adam hefted himself from the couch, flicking off the TV and starting for his room. “I know what I signed up for with you. It’s just-” He paused, eventually falling to a sigh. “I just. Want to see you, y’know?”

    Shiro sat silently, staring sadly to Adam’s back turned to him.

    “...I’m going to bed,” Adam murmured after an eternity, shuffling away. Shiro remained on the couch, watching him go.


	3. Bull In A Convenience Store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Lance butt heads. Keith has a discord. About half this chapter is texting. Whoops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays! There's more and I'm not sorry.
> 
> I might start adding in art in the near future. Also, there's a blog for this fic! https://fuzzy-dice-vld-fic.tumblr.com/ which i need to update more but hey it's something. 
> 
> Formatting note: Keith (or whoever is sending the message)'s texts are on the right side of the page. So make sure to check that side for words so you don't miss them.

_[Keith]_

 

[12:02AM] [1-###-53] _Anybody up_

 

[12:03AM][1-###-02] _Aren’t you working tonight?_

 

[12:03AM][1-###-53] _Yeah but works slow_

[1-###-53] _Nobodys been by in like an hour_

[1-###-53] _Im booooooored_

 

[12:04AM][Matt’s Sister] _u work?_

 

[12:04AM][1-###-53] _Hey im allowed to earn money_

[1-###-53] _I owed ryan a favor so im filling in his shift_

 

[12:05AM][Matt’s Sister] _mustve been desperate 2 ask u >:p _

 

[12:05AM][1-###-53] _Rude_

 

[12:05AM][Shiro] _Play nice you guys._

 

[12:06AM][1-###-02] _Uh oh, dad’s in the house._

[1-###-02] _You guys are in troubleeeeee._

 

[12:06AM][Matt’s Sister] _UR NOT MY REAL DAD_

 

[12:06AM][Shiro] _Since when am I everyone’s dad?_

 

[12:07AM][1-###-53] _You and hunk are the only responsible ones here_

 

[12:07AM][Matt’s Sister] _does that make hunk mom_

 

[12:07AM][1-###-02] _Yes, yes it does._

[1-###-02] _I’m all your guys’ mom now. It’s official._

 

[12:07AM][1-###-61] _What are you all doing up? It’s midnight. You should all be sleeping._

 

[12:08AM][Matt’s Sister] _oh snap mom 2 is awake_

 

[12:09AM][1-###-02] _Oh hey! We’ve almost got the whole gang._

[1-###-02] _Is keith awake?_

 

[12:10AM] [Shiro] _Hold on, I’ll check._

 

\--

[12:10AM][Shiro] _Keith? You up?_

 _Yeah_ [12:10AM][X]

\--

[12:11AM][Shiro] _He’s alive._

 

[12:11AM][Matt’s Sister] _4 some reason i dont blieve u_

_[Read 12:11AM- X]_

 

[12:11AM][Matt’s Sister] _O SHIT_

 

[12:12AM][1-###-02] _He’s lurking._

 

[12:12AM][Shiro] _He usually does that._

 

[12:13AM][1-###-61] _All of you, go to bed!!!_

 

[12:13AM][1-###-53] _Even me?_

 

[12:13AM][1-###-61] _Not you- you’re working._

 

[12:13AM][1-###-53] _Dammit_

\--

    Keith slipped his phone into his pocket and turned his attention back to the cabinets, having been distracted from the task at hand by the buzzing of notifications. Kneeling on the counter, he could finally make out what laid beyond the middle section of his cupboard. Why he even put anything on the top shelf was beyond him, seeing as he lived alone. Peeking over the edge of the wood, he glanced inside. The top shelf yielded nothing but an empty, overturned poptarts box.

    He cursed to himself, getting down from the ledge. A trip to the corner store, then. The 24-hour market was used to him by this point, especially considering that he was one of their most frequent customers. It was only a short drive away from his home, and the store’s 24-hour- _ness_ often left it the only option for his odd-hour shopping trips. Half-slipping on his shoes and snatching his keys off the hook, he shuffled out the door into the night.

 

    The incandescent lighting of the shop left his eyes blurry as they adjusted from the outdoor dimness. Long rows of unhealthy snacks and gas-station food greeted him brightly. A bored-looking cashier leaned down into their arms, scrolling through their phone and pointedly ignoring the abrasively cheery ding of the doors. Keith knew his way through the aisles well, and quickly found his prize of a family-sized package of oreos. He grabbed a bag of goldfish as well for good measure, and shuffled off to the register.

    With Keith’s approach, the cashier glanced up with a frown, allowing Keith to finally get a decent look at him. Recognition flickered across the cashier’s face, throwing his frown agape, and then settling it further.

    “Oh you’ve _got_ to be kidding me,” the cashier groaned. “I thought I wouldn’t have to see you again until next weekend.”

    Keith blinked. “Oh. You. You play uh, Pike, right?”

    “Yeah. Why the hell are you grocery shopping at midnight?”

    “I was awake?” Keith shrugged, sliding the snacks onto the counter. “And I was out of food? So are you gonna ring these up or what?”

    “Are those _needles_ on your sleeve?”

    Keith glanced down at his sweatshirt- as noted, he did in fact still have several sewing needles tucked into the fabric.

    “Yeah. I sew.”

    “You _sew_?” The cashier stood upright. Keith couldn’t quite place his name. Something that started with L?

    “Yeah- what about it?”

    The cashier (Leon?) leaned forward again. “Nothing, man! Chill! I _knit_ , I’m not one to judge.” He waved a hand off into the air, before glancing back in Keith’s direction. “Also- you’ve got, uh. Fuzz? Fur? Dude, you got a _purple dog_ or something?”

    Keith followed Lucus’ gaze to his outfit once again and brushed away some of the hitchhiking fur from his clothes. He generally looked more like he had just rolled out of a bed of crafting supplies rather than dressed to go to the store, but he hardly cared enough to dwell on it.

    “Whatever. Can you please just ring up the damn oreos? You’re holding me and my goldfish hostage here.”

    Luke squinted, but obliged.

    “...Do you even remember my name?”

    “Of course,” Keith lied, like a liar. “L... _Lllllane?_ ”

    “Nope.”

    “Liam.”

    “ _Lance._ ”

    “I knew that.”

    “Sure.” _Lance_ plucked a paper bag from behind the counter and tossed the groceries inside, sliding it towards Keith. “Hey- quick question.”

    Keith swept the bag into his arms and tossed a few dollars towards Lance in return. “Keep the change,” he mumbled, beginning to step away from the counter. Lance stuffed the cash into the register, though Keith wasn’t sure if the other boy heard him or not.

    “You were like, a straight-A student,” Lance continued. “So- why the hell did you drop out?”

    “Hm?” Keith froze, turning back to the counter.

    “You did well in like. _Everything_ ,” Lance dipped forward until he was half over the tabletop, narrowing his eyes in Keith’s direction. “But you just... _Left_. Middle of the year. What happened?”

    “...Wasn’t my thing.” Keith shrugged, turning away again.

    “ _Wasn’t your thing?_ ” Lance repeated. He shot out from behind Keith and scurried around to block the path. “You went to an engineering school. Got probably the _best grades in the entire building_ . And it _wasn’t your thing_ ? What do you even _do_ now?”

    “Art.” Keith sidestepped Lance, but the other boy shifted to continue blocking the way. Keith huffed with annoyance.

    “ _Art_ . You do _art_ now. You dropped out of engineering... for _art_ .” Lance blinked. “...Don’t tell me you make a _living_ doing that.”

    “I take commissions,” Keith grunted, frustrated. He tried stepping in the opposite direction, but Lance shifted yet again. “Will you _fucking move_ -?!”

    “But-” Lance sputtered.

    “I didn’t like engineering, what about it?” Keith growled. “Quit interrogating me! If you hate me _so_ much, just _let me leave_ , _asshole_!”

    “ _Language_ ,” Lance chided. Keith had to grind his teeth to keep from beginning to throw punches. “Why would you go into engineering if you don’t like it-?”

    Keith shoved his way past Lance, knocking the other boy to the side as he stalked out the door. “ _Bye_!” He snarled over his shoulder, throwing a middle-finger up for good measure.

 

    By the time he returned home, Keith’s phone was buzzing angrily in his pocket. The bright screen hurt his eyes against the dim light of his house.

    --

[12:34AM][1-###-53] _Hello?_

[12:36AM][1-###-53] _Keith?_

\--

    Keith frowned, squinting at the unfamiliar number.

    --

    _Who the hell are you_ [12:37AM][X]

[12:37AM][1-###-53] _Lance_

[1-###-53] _“Dude who plays pike”_

 _Im blocking u right now_ [12:37AM][X]

[12:38AM][1-###-53] _Ruuuuude_

    --

    He added the number to his contacts.

    --

[12:40AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Am i blocked yet?_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Hellooooooo_

_[Read 12:40AM- X]_

[12:44AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Dont tell me youre leaving me on read_

_[Read 12:44AM- X]_

[12:45AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Dude_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Dick move_

_[Read 12:45AM- X]_

[12:46AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Okay youre just doing this out of spite arent you_

_[Read 12:46AM- X]_

[12:47AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Fine then_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Im just gonna keep talking_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _So whats up with you dropping out_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _It cant just be because art_

    --

    Keith kicked off his shoes by the door (though they were barely on to begin with) and scooted over to the fridge, not bothering to put down his things as he poured himself a cup of milk. Lactose intolerance be damned, he had oreos to eat.

\--

 _Punched a teacher_ [12:50AM][X]

[12:51AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _WHAAAAAAAAAT_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _How the FUCK did i not hear about this_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _DEETS DEETS DEETS DEETS_

 _There was a teacher_ [12:51AM][X]

 _He had a face_ [X]

 _I had 2 fists_ [X]

 _They had a pleasant introduction_ [X]

 _Will you leave me alone now_ [X]

[12:53AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Dude which teacher???_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Please tell me it was fokker_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Like not to overuse a joke but that dude can go fokk himself_

 _Creative._ [12:54AM][X]

[12:54AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _I gave a disclaimer man_

 _Iverson_ [12:54AM][X]

[12:55AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _What?_

 _You asked who i punched_ [12:55AM][X]

[12:55AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _OH_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _OH SHIT_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Probably deserved it though_

 _Now will u leave me alone_ [12:56AM][X]

[12:55AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Yeah yeah fine sure_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _See ya next weekend i guess_

[Lance (Pike) >:( ] _Hopefully not sooner_

_[Read 12:55AM- X]_

[12:57AM][Lance (Pike) >:( ] _ >:P _

\--

    Edging through the dark around various furniture, Keith picked his way back to his desk, already digging into his recent purchases. The screens of his computer and tablet glinted brightly, illuminating nearly the entire bedroom. He shuffled various fabric and scraps of foam to make room for his food on the table, and slipped the cup in the appropriate holder he had attached to one of the desk’s legs (he had lost far too many electronics to spilled drinks in the past). Squinting as his eyes adjusted from the gloom to the supernova of his monitors, he inspected where he had left off. On his tablet, various references of some random person’s OC alongside a half-completed lineart grinned back up at him. On his laptop, a random discord chat slowly rolled along with new messages. Huffing as he sank back into his chair, he gave his wrists a few good stretches before digging around for his pen so that he could return to work. Commissions wouldn’t draw themselves.

    His attention didn’t hold for long. A few base colors laid down under the now more-or-less completed lines, he saved the file and turned his focus to a different window as the program loaded. Of the discord channels he actually cared for, none yielded anything new. Various social media inboxes held nothing of interest either - only the usual piles of notifications, generic insults, and commission requests. A few DMs of questions and users haggling for free art. Groaning to himself, he laid his face against the keyboard, quickly prompting an annoying song of pings from the keys. Lifting his head, he dragged his chin along the letters for good measure and firmly settled on the enter key.

\--

Emo Lord Darkstorm [Today at 1:36AM]

       Mjhhgdhbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrkjlkjhgzxcvbnjkpoiuytwerghm

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:37AM]

       oh hey look whose alive!!!

       lovin how even when you keysmash it starts with a capital.

       do you like purposefully hold down shift when you do that or is just an automatic computer thing?

\--

Reviewing the resulting alphabet soup, Keith caught glimpse of his message’s title line and frowned.

\--

Emo Lord Darkstorm [Today at 1:37AM]

       Who the fuck changed my name again

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:37AM]

       i plead innocent! XP

 

NOT EMO Darkstorm [Today at 1:38AM]

       There

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:38AM]

       [Whistling]

 

NOT EMO Darkstorm [Today at 1:38AM]

       Bitch.

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:38AM]

       Well That’s Awfully Rude

 

NOT EMO Darkstorm [Today at 1:38AM]

       Im a rude person

       You open your package yet btw

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:38AM]

       Yes, Thank You Very Much, It Looks Great

 

NOT EMO Darkstorm [Today at 1:39AM]

       Did you see the bonus shit

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:38AM]

       I Did, It Was Very Funny

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:40AM]

       owo? what was this package

 

SUPER EMO Darkstorm [Today at 1:40AM]

       Dont you owo me regris

       Wait

       Not fucking again

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:40AM]

       <3

       srs though what was the package??

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:41AM]

       Commission

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:41AM]

       oh! makes sense.

       that reminds i gotta throw money at u.

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:41AM]

       Please tell me you mean commissions

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:41AM]

       XP <3

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:41AM]

       Im not gonna type a heart.

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:42AM]

       aw :c

       you never type hearts!

       1 might even say ur... heartless...

       lol :P

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:42AM]

       Youre right

       I am

       And to prove it im going afk again

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:43AM]

       Shall I Presume The Miracle Of You Actually Going To Sleep For Once, Or Are You Simply Returning To Commission Work

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:43AM]

       I never sleep

       Work wont do itself

       I was on snack break

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:44AM]

       Of Course

       Well, We Wouldn’t Want To Keep You From Your Business

       Good Luck And Good Night

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:44AM]

       Night ulaz

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:44AM]

       gnight both of u!!! <3 love u both!

       have fun with ur commissions, keith!

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:44AM]

       Im not saying it.

 

No Awoolaz $350 Fine [Today at 1:45AM]

       Of Course, Love You Too, Regris

       And As Keith Would Never, Consider An “Love You Too” From Him As Well

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:45AM]

       Ulaz said it

       Not me

 

Reggie Edgy [Today at 1:45AM]

       >XP!!!

       didnt u say u were going back 2 work, mr. grumps?

 

Darkstorm Is Not Emo [Today at 1:46AM]

       Oh hush

\--

    Keith huffed light-heartedly at his screen, switching tabs back to the drawn commission. He could probably finish it that night and make it the last project of the night before he turned in for the evening. That is, presuming he wouldn’t get distracted again. He made an extra mental note to himself to prod Kolivan or Antok about nickname permissions on their server the next time he was online, though that would require that one of the two would come out of hiding and that Keith would be awake at the same time to catch them.

    Either way, he had to finish his work first.


	4. ‘Till The Cats Come Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance has a total break-down and Nyma refuses to log out of Lance's netflix account. Also: cats.

_ [Lance] _

 

The first thing Lance noticed as he walked into his apartment was Nyma sitting on his couch. This should have struck him as suspicious, particularly since Nyma didn’t live with him and they hadn’t been dating for months, but he thought nothing of it as he tossed his bag down beside her. 

“Welcome home.” She was logged into his netflix account, watching a random show Lance couldn’t immediately recognize, and her dog fast asleep on her lap. “I put your laundry away for you.”

“Thanks,” Lance kicked off his shoes and dragged himself to the fridge. Getting a drink, he swirled it around in his hand absentmindedly, fighting off exhaustion from the long work shift. Gradually, he began to process the situation.

“...Wait, how did you get in?” He called, peeking his head around the doorway. 

“Spare key,” Nyma flung a hand up to display the object in question, dangling off a ring from one finger. “Still have it from when we broke up.”

    Lance frowned. “I thought you gave that back?”

    “I did,” Nyma shrugged. “I just also had a copy made.”

    “What the fuck,” Lance grumbled to himself, shuffling around the corner. “Well, in that case, could I have the copy, then? I’d like to know where all the keys to my apartment are.”

    “Knock yourself out.” Nyma tossed the key in Lance’s direction. Caught off-guard, he fumbled the key and it fell to the ground.

    Nyma grinned devilishly. “I have three more copies back at my place.”

    Lance felt an odd drop in his chest, discomforted at the thought of Nyma being able to get into his house at essentially any time she pleased. He’d have to talk with his landlord about getting a new lock. 

    “You came alone, right? Rolo’s not hiding anywhere?”

    “Yup, just me and Beez’,” She nodded. 

    A dull  _ thump _ from the closet spoke otherwise.

Turning and opening the door, Lance looked down upon a huddled Rolo, who sheepishly grinned up at him from a nest of old shoes.

“Do you two  _ have _ to keep doing this?” Lance glanced over his shoulder at Nyma as Rolo scooted past him.

“Yup,” Nyma repeated, her attention still focused on the television. Rolo jumped over the arm of the couch to join her. Their dog caught Lance’s attention again, drawing his thoughts onto a spiraling train of consideration.

“Hey,” Lance glanced around the small residence briefly, his frown setting deeper. “...Have either of you seen my cat?”

Nyma tensed sharply.

“ _ No… _ ” Rolo muttered, narrowing his eyes in Nyma’s direction. “...Have you?”

“...Is your cat not supposed to be let out?” She tried a pitiful smile in Lance’s direction.

“ _ IT’S AN APARTMENT COMPLEX! _ ” Lance threw his hands up, stalking towards the front door. “You  _ let my cat out _ ?!”

“He slipped out! I figured cats usually go outside, so it would be fine?” She shrugged helplessly.

“She’s an indoor cat!”

“Well,” Rolo leaned over the back of the sofa. “It’s an apartment complex, so chances are she’s technically still inside?”

Nyma sank into the cushions. “...She booked it out the main doors.”

Lance turned to face the two of them (three, counting the dog) and struggled to push down the rising panic in his throat. He jerked an arm in the direction of the entrance.

“Out,” he demanded. “Both of you. Dog too.”

The gang quickly rose from their seats, hurrying out the door to avoid any of Lance’s reprimanding. Their dog huffed a bark in passing on the way out. Lance slammed the door behind all of them. 

Choking back rising tears, he dug for his phone. 

\--

 

_ Anybody up for an early morning cat hunt _ [3:34AM][X]

 

\--V--

 

Lance presumed he looked about as pitiful as he felt.

Hunk was wandering a little ways away, poking at bushes and clicking his tongue while Lance sat on the stairs, bundled in far more jackets than he needed. He fidgeted with the seal of the bag of cat treats in his lap- prepared in the event of a cat needing enticing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Hunk glancing over to him every few minutes, face painted with concern. Beside him, his phone buzzed sharply against the wood of the stairs, which only prompted Lance to further draw in on himself. He didn’t bother to check the messages, though the awful clatter made him consider at least moving it off the wood so that the noise would stop. He didn’t. 

    Hunk shuffled around the bushes more, looking increasingly discouraged. Taking one final worrisome glance at Lance, he sighed and hurried to Lance’s side.

    “It’s a bit late,” Hunk began, tugging at the base of his gloves as he spoke. “Zaffre might have found somewhere to sleep for the night?”

    Lance recognized the defeat in Hunk’s tone. He sank further into his jackets, words catching in his throat. All he could muster was a miserable, quiet whimper. Hunk settled beside him and pulled him close, petting his hair and cooing gently. 

    “I’m sure she’ll turn up soon,” He offered. Lance’s only response was to settle his head against Hunk’s chest, trying to focus on Hunk’s breathing in a vain attempt to calm himself down. Hunk hugged him softly, then turned to check Lance’s phone beside the two of them. It continued to buzz angrily, though in Hunk’s hands it no longer hammered against the stairs, which gave Lance some slight relief of overwhelming stimulus. Hunk scrolled silently for a moment before frowning at the screen. 

    “Hey,” He mumbled, glancing down at Lance. “Who’s ‘Mullet?’”

    Lance shifted to meet Hunk’s gaze, taking a moment to process the question. He gave a second attempt to force words out, but his efforts only resulted in strangled squeak. He shifted back until his hands were free and visible. Plan B.

_     K-E-I-T-H _ Lance signed.

“Ah,” Hunk nodded, turning back to the phone and began typing away. Lance settled back against Hunk’s side, face turned to watch the street as the occasional early bird car rolled slowly by. He was dimly aware of Hunk rubbing circles against his back, finally beginning to doze off to the rhythm of Hunk’s breathing, exhausted from the hectic day. 

Lance wasn’t sure how long it had been when Hunk finally shifted and picked him up. Still half-asleep, he let himself be carried inside, and relaxed into his sofa when Hunk finally set him down. Eyes closed, Lance could hear Hunk shuffle away and eventually shuffle back, dragging something across the ground. A blanket was laid across him, and he faintly heard the buzz of his phone’s ringtone being turned off, and the dull thud of it being set on the table beside him. Hunk patted his head softly, murmuring a goodbye before he wandered off to where Lance could no longer hear him. 

When Lance awoke, it was thundering out. Noting the distinct lack of cat curled up beside him, his heart sank deep in his chest. He could only hope Zaffre had found somewhere dry and warm to wait out the storm. He curled into the blankets laid over him, giving a half-hearted attempt to stretch out the krink that had formed in his neck. Aside from the rain, Lance’s apartment was unusually quiet. He presumed Hunk had left at some point after bringing him inside. Checking his phone, he realized Hunk must have turned off the alarms with the ringtone, as the time read as mid-afternoon. He had several new messages in it since the night before.

\--

_ Anybody up for an early morning cat hunt _ [3:34AM][X]

 

    [3:40AM][☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼] _ Your cat? _

_ Y _ [3:41AM][X]

[3:41AM][☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ I’ll be right over. _

 

[6:02AM][Beefy Boi💪🌠☆]  _ Oh damn. _

[Beefy Boi💪🌠☆]  _ Any luck you two? _

[Beefy Boi💪🌠☆] _ I can keep an eye out around my area for any strays. _

    [6:05AM][☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ Couldn’t find her.  _

    [☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ We looked around Lance’s apartment all morning. _

 

    [6:06AM][Beefy Boi💪🌠☆] _ I could come over to help look in a bit? _

    [Beefy Boi💪🌠☆]  _ Actually, man, that storm sounds bad. _

 

    [6:06AM][Pidgeon🐦] _ u heard that thunder 2 huh _

 

    [6:07AM][Beefy Boi💪🌠☆] _ It’s a bit hard not to. _

 

    [8:30AM][♡👑QUEEN👑♡]  _ Oh no!! Poor dear! I hope she’s doing alright with the rain. :( Hopefully she’ll turn up soon. I’d presume she wouldn’t want to stay out long in this weather.  _

 

    [8:30AM][Pidgeon🐦]  _ u know how cats do w/ water _

    [Pidgeon🐦] _ theyre good at finding their way home tho _

    [Pidgeon🐦] _ ur cat will probably b back soon _

 

    [8:56AM][☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ When I left his apartment, Lance was asleep. _

    [☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ I was gonna go check back up on him after work. _

    [☼☀☼ Hunk ☼☀☼]  _ If anybody wants to come with, hopefully the storm will have stopped and we could try Cat Hunt: Round 2. _

 

    [9:02AM][Beefy Boi💪🌠☆]  _ I’ll stop by if you guys still haven’t had any luck by then. _

\--

    The chat had stalled out after that. Scrolling through his recent messages, he noted the unusual presence of his chat log with Keith towards the top of the list. The latest message from him looked unfamiliar.

\--

    [4:01AM][MULLET]  _ Hey you live in the apartment complex by the little corner store right _

 

    [4:04AM][MULLET]  _ Lance _

 

    [4:06AM][MULLET]  _ Hello _

 

    [4:09AM][MULLET]  _ Lance? _

 

_ Yeah, on the first floor. - Hunk _ [4:13AM][X]

[4:13AM][MULLET]  _ What does his cat look like _

[MULLET]  _ Tabby calico longhair shorthair _

[MULLET]  _ Any odd traits like extra toes or smthn _

_ Grey and white with green eyes and short-ish fur. _ [4:15AM][X]

_ She has a blue collar with little stars and stuff on it. _ [X]

_ Hold on a sec. - Hunk  _ [X]

\--

    In the chat, Hunk had then sent an image of Zaffre. At least, Lance thought, he now knew who had been pinging his phone so often the night before. Keith almost never spoke in the campaign group chat, so Lance couldn’t imagine why he would be so talkative for once when someone else hadn’t initiated the conversation. He took one last glance at the clock on his phone before setting it down. At least he had the day off, so sleeping in hadn’t impacted his schedule much at all. 

    He went about collecting Zaffre’s toys and blankets from around the apartment. When she got back, he would at least have everything set up all comfy for her after that harrowing experience. He set a cat bed on the counter beside Zaffre’s favorite window, arranging her food and water bowls across the countertop for easy access. He busied himself with lining her toys around the bed and counter, laying small blankets and towels inside the cat bed for warming her up after being out in the rain. He found where Hunk had left the cat treats from the night before and set them beside the arrangement. For good measure, he could prepare her a bit of tuna as an extra treat. 

Opening the package of tuna, Lance knew he was simply trying to create a distraction for himself. Settling a bit of the fish over the food bowl, his heart sank further down his chest. By this point, it had probably settled in his feet, if it hadn’t already glitched through the ground and was slowly making its way six feet under. He continued to shuffle around his apartment, scooting various objects to and fro, laying blankets and toys around where he knew Zaffre usually liked to sit, shifting scratching boards closer to the various setups he had prepared. As he wandered around the small space, his phone buzzed occasionally with notifications he didn’t particularly care about- random emails, social media notifications, miscellaneous group chat texts. He didn’t bother to check them; his attention drawn far inside his own head. 

    Lance was running on autopilot, the frenzy of thoughts in his brain eventually humming away to static. With no one else in the apartment, his hyperfocus ran rampant through the lack of obstacles. He had no idea what time it was as he began moving tasks to generally cleaning his residence. The storm outside made it difficult to tell based on daylight, and his brain was far too distant to register the numbers on his clocks in passing. Even as he wiped dust from the digital screens, the blurry glow of numerals went unprocessed. As he ran out of things to tidy, his cleaning kick began to lull. He wandered to the couch and flopped down, pulling out his phone to finally check notifications. His mind continued to fail to register the screen as he scrolled, thoughts slowly beginning to reemerge. A shower was probably in order after so much cleaning- the process had likely left him slightly grungier than before. 

    A knock sounded at his door, snapping Lance out of his brain fog.

    He had to presume it was Hunk or Shiro- they had mentioned coming over- but rain still poured down outside, and Hunk wouldn’t be out of work for another few hours. Lance scurried to the front of his apartment. Opening the door, he inspected the guest standing in a small puddle in the hall. Had they not encountered each other the night before, he might have not recognized the boy in front of him. As it was, it still took him a few moments to process their identity.

    Keith was soaked.

    Quite appropriately, he looked like a wet cat. His hair was plastered to his face and neck to the point of his mullet being unrecognizable. His clothes sagged, heavy with weight of being so damp. He was hunched over slightly, arms tightly crossed over his chest to support a lump underneath his fraying maroon hoodie- the emblem of some cartoon lion head printed across the front peeling from age. The water damage likely didn’t help its condition.

    Peeking out from the neckline of his coat, a true wet cat shifted against him and sniffed the air outside the jacket. This individual Lance was able to recognize immediately.

    “Zaffre!” he cried, rushing forward to pet his cat. Zaffre mewled in complaint, kicking against Keith’s chest and prompting grunts from the drenched boy. Lance ushered the two inside, shutting the door behind him as Keith unzipped his jacket to release the irritated feline. Almost immediately, Zaffre shook herself off, flinging water across the living room.

Keith stood upright, huffing and giving a half-hearted attempt to smooth out his crumpled shirt. With jacket unzipped, Lance could see that even his t-shirt was completely soaked despite the protection from the rain. A darker spot sat over the center of his chest where Zaffre had been pressed against him. He was still wearing the outfit from when Lance had encountered him the night before- dark wrinkled pants with tears across the knees, the backs of his sneakers stuck underneath his heels. Several sewing needles were still tucked in the fabric of his sleeve. Dark circles shadowed his eyes. 

    Keith turned to glance at Lance, wiping hair from in front of his eyes. 

    “I found your cat.”

    Lance couldn’t help but gape at him. A new puddle was beginning to form on the floor beneath Keith’s shoes. Zaffre padded over to Lance’s leg and meowed at him, reaching up to dig her claws into his pant leg, effectively unfreezing him from his stupor. Lance glanced down at her, and then back to Keith.

    “I’ll uh… I’ll get you a towel,” Lance eventually managed to stammer out. Zaffre complained loudly from Lance’s knee, her claws having gotten stuck. Gently, he pried her off and hurried towards the closet.

    The two fought through the awkward pleasantries and “ _ Make yourself comfortable _ ” and ensuing tense silence. Lance left Keith bundled in towels and sitting on the couch, and hid in the kitchen for a few minutes to prepare drinks and send a “ _ Cat found _ ” text to the group chat. When he returned, Zaffre had settled on Keith’s lap, and Keith was murmuring softly to her, scratching her chin as she purred. Lance circled the sofa and extended a mug in Keith’s direction.

    “Cocoa?” He offered.

    Keith blinked at the mug, and mumbled a quiet “Thanks,” as he carefully took the cup, cradled in both hands. 

    Lance stepped away a bit and wrung his hands, searching for words to break the silence.

    “...Do you need a ride home at all?” he tried.

    “Oh, uh,” Keith glanced up from the mug, stammering. “No, I’m good. My car’s outside.”

    Lance hummed in acknowledgement, turning away again. 

    “Thanks,” Lance mumbled. “Er- for, uh, finding her.” With his head turned away, he couldn’t see Keith’s reaction, but he heard Zaffre’s chirrup of complaint as Keith shifted in his seat.

    “No problem,” Keith was so quiet, Lance almost struggled to hear him over Zaffre’s purring. “Didn’t want to leave a cat lost out in the rain.”

    Lance mustered up the courage to glance back at Keith. The other boy’s attention was thankfully focused in on Zaffre. “Where did you find her?” 

    “In the woods across the street. There was a little dead tree leaning on some branches that she was hiding in.”

    Lance was familiar with the small forest in question- there was a pond there that froze over in the winter, decent for ice skating. Lance couldn’t help the mental image of Keith falling into the water or otherwise romping around and looking like a fool.

    “I probably looked like an idiot wandering around out there,” Keith huffed.

_     You almost certainly did, _ Lance thought.  _ Wish I could’ve seen it. _

    “I appreciate the effort,” He said instead.

    Keith gave a quiet hum of acknowledgement. Lance stood aimlessly for a moment, searching for an action so that he wouldn’t just be awkwardly standing there saying nothing. He bounced on his toes a few times before finally settling on leaning over the back of the sofa, trying to keep a respectable distance from his guest. Zaffre glanced up and mewled at Lance’s approach, prompting the corners of Keith’s mouth to flick up ever so slightly. Lance was fairly certain it was the first time he had ever seen any semblance of a smile on him.

    “Do you have a cat?” Lance directed his attention at the cushions below him. Out of the corner of his eye, he noted Keith glancing over to him.

    “Oh, no. I don’t have any pets,” Keith’s gaze slid back to the cat in his lap. “My family had a dog when I was really little, but nothing since then.” 

Lance hummed in response, and then internally winced with the realization that Keith had responded the same way only a few moments prior. Embarrassment curled in his gut. If Keith had any reaction the the repeated action, he didn’t show it.

“Do you, uh, want anything to eat?” Lance dropped his hands into the seat below him, trying to find something to do with them as he spoke. He felt far too awkward to simply leave the conversation in silence.

“Um, no thank you,” Keith murmured. “I’m alright.”

Lance could only presume Keith felt just as uneasy as him. 

“I should, uh, probably get going,” Keith continued, setting his mug down on the table before the sofa and giving Zaffre a few more pats. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“Oh-! You’re fine, you’re fine, don’t worry-” Lance stammered, standing upright. Internally, his chest screamed joyously at the thought of being free from the tense pleasantries. “Are you sure you’re dried off enough-?” His chest suddenly felt like it wanted to punch him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m alright, thank you-” Keith gently prodded Zaffre until the cat stood, stretching out and digging her claws into Keith’s leg before hopping off the couch and padding away. He stood quickly before the cat could return to trap him again. Lance’s chest was back to prompting him to usher Keith out of the apartment as fast as possible.

    Keith shuffled towards the door, mumbling an excess of  _ thank yous _ and goodbyes to pair Lance’s own  _ no-thank- _ you _ s _ and farewells. Keith slipped through the doorway quickly, ensuring no supplementary feline escapees, and Lance had to restrain himself from almost slamming the door behind him. As soon as Keith was in the hall, Lance let out a huff of breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. He felt a slight burn of shame for not prompting Keith to stay longer- after all, he had been clearly still soaked to the bone- but the tense environment was far too much to bear.

    Either way, the deed was done now, and Lance allowed himself to breathe. He could at least settle now, house free of company.

    Then he caught sight of Hunk’s car in the parking lot.


End file.
